The Gravity of Love
by Alice Dodgson
Summary: 7th year. Newly broken up with Ginny, Hermione accidently travels back in time to when the Marauders went to Hogwarts, and falls in love with...Harry's mother, Lily Evans! Femmeslash, obviously. The fic is on hiatus, but not abandoned.
1. Goodbye, Ginny

**Disclaimer:**I do not own any of the characters from _Harry Potter_. I'm making no money off this and no copyright infringement is intended.

**Author's note: **Okay, so the pairing in this fic will be a little different. I've never seen a Hermione/Lily fic before, but I've seen a lot of Hermione/James ones and I decided to explore what it would be like for Hermione to travel back in time and fall in love with Harry's other parent.

The title of this fic comes from one of my favorite songs, "The Gravity of Love" by Enigma.

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**Epilogue**

Hermione Granger stood facing her girlfriend in the Gryffindor common room. Her frizzy brown hair was even frizzier than usual from her having run her fingers through it so much, and a single tear was streaming down her face.

"I don't understand, Ginny," she said, her bottom lip trembling. "Just tell me what I did."

"Nothing! You didn't do ANYTHING!" Ginny cried, waving her hands about in a frustrated manner. "I just…I realized recently that it was really Harry I wanted to be with all along. I was so torn up when he broke up with me that I just wanted someone to love me again, but I was still in love with him. I never should have tried to be with you or anyone else. And I'm just not gay. I'm sorry, Hermione, but I'm not."

"_How you can you say that?!_" Hermione's small white hands curled into fists at her side, and more tears fell from her eyes. "How can you stand in front of me and say all these things? I---I came out of the closet for you! I didn't care when half the school was shouting at us and calling us dykes, because I loved you and I thought that we were in this together! We lost our virginities to eachother, for Merlin's sake! And now you're telling me that you didn't even love me and it meant nothing?"

"Dammit, I'm _not_ telling you that it meant nothing! You're still my friend --- you've been my best friend. But that doesn't make me gay! I just don't like girls like that! How come you can get perfect grades but you can't get that through your thick skull?"

For a moment, the empty common room was silent except for the sound of the two girls breathing. Hermione felt as though her heart had stopped. But even in that moment, she found the courage to say the words that she never thought she'd say --- had hoped, with every fibre of her being, that she'd never have to say.

"Goodbye, Ginny," she said quietly.

"No --- wait!" Ginny exclaimed. "Hermione, I didn't mean that!" But Hermione was already running out of the common room and towards the stairs that led to her dormitory.


	2. Time Travel

**Chapter One**

Once she was in the safety of her dorm, Hermione collapsed onto her four-poster bed and drew the curtains shut. Then she buried in her head into her feather pillow and cried her heart out, thankful (if she could be thankful about anything at all right now) that no one was there to hear her sobs.

She couldn't believe this was happening. How could Ginny leave her after all they had been through together? All her memories of their eight-month relationship came flooding back to her: their first kiss at the Burrow, the summer after Hermione's sixth year, when she finally admitted that Ginny and not Ron was the Weasley that she'd really been crushing on all these years. The first, awkward time they'd made love, when neither one of them really knew what they were doing but Hermione felt sure that soon they'd learn and it would get even better. (She was right.) Returning to Hogwarts that fall, and keeping their relationship secret for a couple months but eventually plucking up the courage to come out to their friends. How Ron was so shocked when they told him that he accidentally let it slip to the rest of Gryffindor house, and it wasn't long before the entire school knew about them.

It wasn't easy for Hermione to find herself being viciously labeled a dyke as well as a mudblood by Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins, but she was so in love with her gorgeous, feisty, red-haired girlfriend that she convinced herself that it was worth it. She thought she'd found exactly what she'd wanted: a girl who could be her best pal _and_ her lover. And for awhile, Ginny did seem to fit that description. Hermione never felt happier than when she and Ginny were walking hand in hand by the lake on the Hogwarts grounds would stop to kiss under the trees; or that time when, over last Christmas break, Ginny had come to visit Hermione at her parents' house and they spent most of their vacation snuggled on Hermione's bed, watching episodes of Hermione's favorite Muggle TV show, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer._ They always compared themselves to Willow and Tara, the two lesbian witches on the show. But now it seemed that like the television couple, their relationship was not meant to last. Hermione had risked so much in finally coming out as a girl who liked other girls, and telling Ginny how she felt about her, only to have her heart broken.

_What could I have done to drive her away?_ Hermione thought helplessly to herself. Because she just couldn't believe that Ginny had never loved her --- it seemed impossible in light of the incredible bond they'd shared. No, she must have done something that made Ginny want to go back to Harry. And Hermione was still so in love with Ginny that she felt a rush of determination to figure out what that was, and to fix it.

_C'mon, Hermione Jane Granger, think. Was there a time when you sensed that Ginny's feelings for you might be fading?_ Looking back, she realized there was. A month ago they'd had a rather bitter argument when they were in Hogsmeade. Ginny seemed to be on edge all day, and all that day they couldn't agree on anything: they fought about which shops to visit, which pub to stop at and get a drink, and whether to stay in Hogsmeade or go back to the castle. Hermione could definitely sense that Ginny was annoyed with her, and she was just as annoyed at Ginny. Finally she snapped at her,

"If you're going to disagree with absolutely everything I suggest, why don't you leave me alone and go hang out with Harry and Ron instead? You can go shop for Quidditch supplies, or do whatever boring things you guys like to do."

She remembered Ginny's brown eyes flashing angrily as she retorted, "Fine! I'm perfectly happy to leave if you don't want me around. And if you think the things that _I _like are boring, you should look at yourself. At least I do more than sit around the library all day." Ginny walked huffily away, her red hair streaming behind her in the wind, before Hermione could say anything else to her.

They patched things up later that day after they both arrived separately back at Hogwarts. By then their tempers had cooled, and they snuggled together on Hermione's bed again like nothing had ever happened. But now that Hermione looked back on this incident, she realized what she must have done to drive a wedge between herself and Ginny.

_I more or less told her that she has more in common with Harry than she does with me_, she thought with horror. _Merlin, I'm such an idiot! If only I hadn't snapped at her and said what I did, she might still be my girlfriend now…but there's nothing I can do to change it._

But then suddenly, Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, hope shining in her tear-stained brown eyes. There _was_, possibly, a way to fix the damage she'd done to her relationship --- if only she could bring herself to break a major school rule, as well as the laws of Time Travel.

Hermione was so frantic to get Ginny back that she found herself not giving a damn about any rules. After all, desperate situations called for desperate measures. So she reached into the drawer of her nightstand, and pulled out the thing that was going to save her…the Time Turner.

She smiled as she looked down at the silver hourglass, recalling how she'd told Harry and Ron that she'd returned the device to Professor McGonagall at the end of their third year. In truth she'd kept it, just because she had a feeling that she might need it again someday. All the other Time Turners in existence had been destroyed at the Ministry of Magic in their fifth year, so she was holding the last one in existence. Thank Merlin she had listened to her intuition and kept it after all.

_If I can just take myself far enough back in time to when I had that fight with Ginny_, she said to herself, _I might be able to keep it from ever happening. I'm not sure exactly how yet, but I'll figure it out. Now, if I can just remember the exact date…_ She set the Time Turner down on her bed for a moment, and then pulled out her diary from under her pillow. She flipped through the pages and found the entry in which she'd recorded her memories of that day in Hogsmeade; it was the twelfth of February.

She then turned her attention back to the Time Turner. She'd read in a library book, one day when she'd obtained permission to peruse the Restricted Section, that there was a way to set a Time Turner to go back in time even _years_ before the present time. All you had to do was put the chain around your neck, turn the hourglass around one rotation, and tap the Time Turner with your wand as you spoke aloud the date you wanted to go back to. Hermione had been surprised that the spell was so ridiculously easy, but probably so few people knew about the spell (and had permission to use a Time Turner in the first place) that most never attempted it.

Without wasting another moment, she put the chain around her neck, turned the hourglass and tapped it with her wand, saying in a clear voice, "February 12th, 1998." Then she held her breath in anticipation as she waited. After what seemed like forever but was only a few seconds, she felt the old sensation she'd gotten used to when she was in her third year: the feeling of the world spinning around her, as if she were twirling herself around in one spot, then everything around her disappearing. At last the spinning stopped, and she dizzily fell to the cold, hard floor with a thud.

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**Author's note: Please review! It'll make my day!**


	3. What Do You Mean, It's 1978?

**Author's note:** Thanks for your reviews guys, and please keep 'em coming!

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**Chapter Two**

It took a few seconds for Hermione to regain enough of her focus and balance to get up off the floor. When she did, she was glad to see that she was exactly where she'd been before --- the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory. But right away she noticed that something about the large room was very different, as if it had been redecorated. The first aspect of the room that sprung out at her was that Lavender and Parvati's fashion magazines for teenage witches were not strewn all over the floor around their beds; in fact, their entire area seemed much neater. Hermione knew all too well that her dorm mates were not tidy people at all.

_Maybe they actually cleaned up while I was out that day,_ she thought. _No matter…I've got to go and find Ginny before she and I go to Hogsmeade!_ But then she also noticed that the area surrounding her own bed also looked different from usual. Most notably, her bookshelf containing her copy of _Hogwarts: A History_, among other large books, was missing…and someone else's clothes were hanging in her closet, including a Gryffindor uniform that was slightly too large for her and Muggle clothes that appeared to be rather dated.

_What's going on?_ _Maybe I'm not back in the Gryffindor dorm after all._ But that didn't make any sense; all of the curtains and other decorations on the walls were in the Gryffindor colors of red and gold. Had someone taken all her things and replaced them as some sort of prank? The idea seemed ludicrous, but it was all that Hermione's dazed mind could come up with at the moment.

She was still staring at the room in confusion when she was startled by the sound of the door creaking open. She spun around quickly and saw a girl with long red hair and wearing Gryffindor robes enter the dormitory.

"Ginny!" she said instinctively. But then immediately she realized that this person was not her former lover. Ginny had an athletic build, lots of freckles, big brown eyes, and messy, wavy ginger hair that was almost always up in a sloppy ponytail. This girl was taller and thinner, and had pale skin with no freckles. Her almond-shaped eyes were a dazzling green, and her straight, neatly-combed hair was a much darker, more vibrant shade of red than Ginny's had ever been. She looked old enough to be a seventh year (in fact, she looked even more grown-up than most of the students at school), but there were only a few seventh year Gryffindor girls and Hermione knew them all very well. She had never seen this person before in her life.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked in bewilderment.

"Who am _I_?" the girl responded, looking equally surprised. "Who are _you_ and what are you doing in my dormitory?"

"I _live_ here! This is my dorm, not yours! I've never seen you before! Did you take all my stuff and replace it?"

"What? Why in the world would I do such a thing?"

"I don't know, I just know that this is my dorm and now all my things are gone and a complete stranger is in it!" Hermione cried, starting to lose her composure. Her trembling body crumpled to the floor, suffocated by the weight of her rising anxiety. _Oh, no,_ she thought, _I must have done the spell wrong. I went back to the wrong time period, that's the only thing that can explain this..._ Her realization of how rash her decision had been to travel back in time suddenly came crashing upon her. _Oh my God, how could I have done something so stupid?! _

All of a sudden the strange girl was kneeling down at Hermione's side, a look of concern crossing her face.

"Look, are you…okay?" she asked, reaching out to gently touch Hermione's shoulder. "Do you know where you are and how you got here?"

"Yes, I'm at Hogwarts, in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory," Hermione said miserably, crossing her arms over her knees and resting her chin on top of them. She decided it was probably wise not to answer the girl's other question on how she got there. Saying, '_I'm from the future and I time-traveled here using an illegal Time Turner so I could get my girlfriend back,'_ would probably make things even more awkward. So instead she continued, "But…but I'm not sure I know what year it is."

"Oh." The girl continued to stare at Hermione, her thin eyebrows furrowed. It was obvious that she thought that Hermione had hit her head or something and was now delusional. Hermione had started to wonder if that wasn't true.

"Well, it's 1978," the girl told her. Hermione groaned; she must have not spoken the year clearly enough when she did the spell. Now she had gone back 20 years before she intended to. _I'm so stupid, so stupid…_ "And," the girl went on, "I don't know who you are or what's happened to you, but I'll help you if I can. I'll go get Professor Dumbledore --- he's the headmaster here."

"I know," Hermione whispered. The girl started to stand up and leave the room, but Hermione reached out and grabbed her sleeve. "What's your name?" She wasn't sure why she needed to know this, but a sudden and profound curiosity to find out who the girl was had suddenly come upon her.

The girl hesitated a few seconds before replying, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to humor someone who might be insane. But finally she said,

"Lily. That is, Lily Evans."


	4. Olivia Taylor

**Chapter Three**

In the few moments that Hermione had to herself in the Gryffindor dorm while the girl --- no, _Lily_ --- went to fetch Professor Dumbledore, her mind was reeling over the situation she'd gotten herself into. It was 1978, and she had just met Lily Evans, soon to be Lily Evans _Potter_, her best friend's deceased mother. Only Lily was definitely not deceased yet. No, Hermione realized, it would be another three years before Lily and her husband James would die at the hands of Lord Voldemort, leaving the infant Harry an orphan and the unwitting savior of the wizarding world. But right now, Harry wasn't even born; Lily and James weren't married, and might not even be an item yet. And Lily had just stood in front of her, as vibrant and full of life as anyone could be.

_How come I didn't recognize her eyes?_, Hermione thought. _Harry's are exactly like them, just like everyone always said._ And then, with a sudden surge of anger: _It's not fair. It's not fair that I got to meet Harry's mother for even a second, when he was too young when she died to remember her. And I'll **never **forget this…_

For a moment, Hermione considered just picking up the Time Turner and going right back to 1998. To just disappear, before Lily and the Headmaster could get back to the dorm, leaving them to wonder what had become of the strange girl who'd shown up mysteriously in the castle and then left just as quickly. She'd already done enough damage; wasn't it time to go home?

But something told her that she should stay where she was until she could speak to Dumbledore. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but for some reason she had a strong reluctance to use the Time Turner again so soon. _Isn't that what got you into this mess, anyway?_, she admonished herself. And she was still too dizzy and overwhelmed from the shock of what had happened to her to do anything but sit on the floor, propped up against her bed --- which she now realized had also been Lily's bed two decades earlier. For all of her seventh year she'd been sleeping on that mattress, not having the slightest clue that Harry's mother had slept on it for an entire year as well. It made her shiver to think about it.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps getting closer and closer --- Dumbledore's loud, stomping ones, combined with softer ones that must have been Lily's --- and the red haired girl and the Headmaster entered the room. The first thing that Hermione noticed about 1978 Dumbledore was that he still looked very much the same as his 1990's self. _Though, when you're already as old as he is_, it occurred to her, _twenty years probably doesn't make a lot of difference._

"Thank you for bringing me to her, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said, an intrigued look crossing his face as he slowly stepped closer to Hermione. "Young lady, do you think you can stand up?"

"Yes, I…I think so," Hermione said softly. She began to lift herself off the floor, but she was still trembling, and she found herself immediately being helped up by the surprisingly strong arms of Lily.

"Professor Dumbledore's going to bring you to his office, and he and Professor McGonagall --- she's our Deputy Headmistress --- are going to try to help you," Lily said gently. Turning to Dumbledore, she said in a concerned voice, "Do you think she'll need to go to the Hospital Wing first, Professor?"

"I don't know, Miss Evans. --- Do _you_ think you need to go to the Hospital Wing, young lady?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm fine, just a bit shaken, sir."

"Very well, then. Miss Evans, if you will continue to assist the young lady to my office…"

"I think I can walk just fine, thanks," Hermione interrupted, speaking abruptly but not rudely. Dumbledore nodded obligingly. "Thank you so much though, um, Lily," Hermione said, not looking at the other girl as she spoke.

"You're welcome," Lily said quietly. Hermione cast one more glance at the red haired girl standing there, before she walked out of the dorm and followed Dumbledore to his office.

Hermione later didn't remember much about that walk through the castle, except that every now and then they'd pass a throng of chattering students and each time she'd turn her head, wondering if any of those students were people she knew from Harry's parents' generation. She could have probably recognized Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, of course, but she had no way of knowing if any of the other young men and woman would grow to become members of the Order or Death Eaters, or if they were her classmates' parents, like Frank and Alice Longbottom…it gave her a bit of an adrenaline rush to realize that not only had she traveled twenty years back in time, but she'd traveled to a time that was very important to just about everyone she knew. In 1978, Voldemort and his followers were very strong, and the First War had well begun. Right now these students were so fresh-faced and young, but in the next few years they'd have to make vital decisions on where they stood in the fight against Voldemort. Soon, their fates would already be sealed for them.

"Ah, here we are," Dumbledore said, his cheery voice pulling her out of her thoughts. He spoke the password (which apparently back in February, 1978 was "Chocolate Frogs"), and the wide doors of his office opened to them. "If you would take a seat, please," he requested, pointing to large, dark red leather chair that sat in front of his enormous desk. Hermione did as he asked, and he took the seat facing her, behind his desk.

"Now," he said, folding his hands and staring pointedly at Hermione, "I'm sure you have much to tell me, for _I_ have many questions to ask _you_. But I hope you don't mind if I say a few things first."

"Not at all, sir." Hermione swallowed nervously, waiting for the Headmaster to go on.

"I must tell you that you gave Miss Evans quite a fright," Dumbledore continued, a small smile creasing his elderly face. "At times like this, I'm reminded why Professor McGonagall and I appointed her Head Girl --- she has so much compassion for other people. She believes that you must have suffered amnesia or something of that sort, and that you somehow wandered into the castle, and now you don't know how you got here. She even told me that you did not know what year it is, is this true?"

"That…that I didn't know the year until she told me?" Hermione paused for a second before she answered, "Yes, sir, that is true."

"I see. Well, I think that Miss Evans is actually quite mistaken. I don't think that you are delusional or amnesiac at all. And do you know why I think this, young lady?"

"No, sir."

"Well, for one thing, there is the rather curious fact that you're wearing a Gryffindor necktie and skirt, yet I have never been aware of you being a student at this school, in _any_ of the four houses. And then there is the fact that I can recognize the chain of a Time Turner when I see one."

Hermione let out a small gasp, and instinctively put her hand up to her chest to touch the same chain that Dumbledore had spoken of. Although the hour-glass of the Time Turner was tucked hidden away in her white button-down shirt, the silver chain was still clearly visible around her neck. Leave it to Dumbledore to deduce immediately what was going on, no matter the circumstances.

"And so," Dumbledore went on, "I have come to the interesting conclusion that you _are_ a Hogwarts student, but not in this present time, and that you somehow used that Time Turner to travel much further backwards or forwards than the device usually allows. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Hermione whispered, her eyes cast down to the floor. For some reason, she flushed and her palms began to sweat; she felt very ashamed.

"Young lady, what is your name, and what time period do you come from?" the Headmaster asked, not unkindly. Hermione lifted her gaze off the red carpet, and stared into the old man's blue eyes.

"Hermione Granger. And I'm a seventh year in 1998."

"Ah!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "1998 --- twenty years from now, that's very precise. Would I be wrong in guessing that you did not arrive here totally by accident?"

"Well, no, it wasn't a _total_ accident, Professor. You see, I've come from March 16, 1998, and I meant to go back just one month earlier, to February 12, 1998 --- but, well, I must have not spoken the date clearly enough, because here I am."

"Here you are, indeed," Dumbledore murmured, drumming the tips of his fingers on the top of his desk. For about a minute, both he and Hermione were silent as he stared ahead, apparently deep in thought. After awhile the silence began to make Hermione very uncomfortable, and so she piped up,

"Please, Professor, may I just go back? I'm sorry to have disturbed your…your time period, but my friends, they'll be missing me soon, and…"

"Go back?" Dumbledore said, his eyes fixating back upon her, a curious look on his face. "Miss Granger, I cannot allow you to do that before I know exactly how you arrived in this time --- how you have possession of a Time Turner, and for what purpose you were intending to use it. Time Turners are heavily regulated by the Ministry, as I hope you know. They don't just hand them out to anyone to do whatever they wish with them. Time travel is very serious business."

"I do know that, sir. I can explain. You see, in my third year Professor McGonagall gave me permission to use this Time Turner so I could take more than a full schedule of classes. It ended up being more than I could handle, though, so I didn't use it again after that year," Hermione said, deliberately leaving out the whole business of using the Time Turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak. She figured that it would be too much to explain all _that_ at this point, and besides, she was well aware that Time Traveling laws forbid letting people in the past know too much about their future.

"Ah. Well, you wouldn't be the first one to use the device for that purpose and still found yourself without enough hours in the day. That I can understand. But I'm curious, Miss Granger --- if you stopped using the Time Turner for academic reasons that year, then why do you still have it now? Shouldn't you have returned it to Professor McGonagall --- who I'm glad to hear is still teaching in 1998?"

Hermione flushed in shame again. "Yes, sir, I should have returned it to her. I…I don't really know why I didn't. I just had a feeling that I would need it again someday. So I told her that I handed it over to my friend Ron's father, who works for the Ministry. I guess she never asked my friend's father about it, so she never knew that I still had the Time Turner."

"And what were you using it for today, Miss Granger...Miss Granger?"

Tears were falling from Hermione's eyes. The look on Professor Dumbledore's face made it obvious that he hadn't expected the young girl to start crying.

"This was the first time I used it since my third year," Hermione said, her voice shaking. "It was sitting in my drawer the whole time. I swear to you, sir, I never used it for…for mischief, or dark magic, or anything like that. I would never do that, I'm Head Girl!"

"Ssh, calm down, child --- I believe you. I don't know why, but I feel that I can trust you." Dumbledore opened up one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a piece of wrapped candy. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, even through her tears. The old man really _had_ always been the same, she thought. She took the candy from him but didn't unwrap it.

"Well," she continued, wiping her eyes, "When I used the Time Turner today it wasn't for a good reason. I'll admit that. But I was so desperate…I…I don't know how to explain it to you, sir. It would mean divulging my personal life to you, and I'm not sure if that's appropriate."

"Just tell me what you feel comfortable with."

Hermione hesitated. She'd had a hard enough time coming out to everyone about her sexuality; how could she tell a twenty years younger Dumbledore about her relationship with Ginny? Finally, she said softly, "Let's just say that I loved someone very much, but I did something wrong and ruined my relationship with this person. So I thought that if I could go back in time to when things went wrong, then maybe I could set them right again. I used a spell I read about one time when I was in the Restricted Section of the library. It was stupid, I know."

"Stupid? No, Miss Granger…you were certainly being foolish, but it doesn't seem to me that you are stupid," Dumbledore said. " 'Love makes fools of us all,' as a famous Muggle playwright said once."

"Yes, I know, sir --- I'm Muggleborn," Hermione said, laughing a little.

"Are you really? So is Miss Evans, our current Head Girl! It would seem that you two have much in common." Hermione squirmed uncomfortably when he said this, though she wasn't sure why.

"Please, sir," she said once again, "now that you know how I got there, and that I wasn't up to anything wrong, would you mind if I just went on my way home? The less time I spend in your time period the better, and I really want to get back."

"I'm sure you do, Miss Granger. But I'm sorry," the Headmaster said, shaking his head, "I can't let you go back at this time."

Dumbledore's answer shocked Hermione. "Wh-what?" she stammered. "Why not? Sir, you said you trusted me!"

"I do. I don't think that you had bad intentions; indeed, it seems to me that you had very good intentions. But that doesn't change the fact that you _did_ do something that was very, very, foolish. You not only used a Time Turner illegally, with a spell that most students are not supposed to know about, but you also admittedly lied to a teacher about your possession of it. I know that Professor McGonagall must have told you about the laws of time travel when she let you use the Time Turner for your studies in your third year. So, you must have been aware what risk you were putting us all in when you used it for your own purposes. The proper protocol would be for me --- in your time period as well as mine --- to take the Time Turner away from you. And that is what I must do now."

Fresh tears began to well up in Hermione's eyes again. She'd never been punished by her Headmaster before; in her entire time at Hogwarts, he'd always overlooked it when she, Ron and Harry had broken the rules because he seemed to understand that they had done it for the right reasons. Now, she was finally being forced to deal with the consequences. _Oh, God, this is even worse than I thought. I've already managed to disappoint Dumbledore, and I'm not even technically his student yet. And now I'm stuck here…_

"What…what am I going to do here, until you let me go home?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Why, go to your classes, of course. You're already wearing most of your Hogwarts uniform; we can order you some new Gryffindor robes and jumpers and things, as well as all the school books you need. And you have your wand on you? Good. Miss Granger, I hope you understand why I want to keep you here for a little while longer?"

"To punish me," Hermione whispered, staring at her lap. "And I know I deserve it."

"No, not just to punish you, although you do need to face the consequences of your actions. I'm doing this to help you, Miss Granger."

"Help me? Help me how, sir?" Hermione looked up from her lap, confused. Was the old man finally off his rocker?

"Child, don't you realize that if I sent you back to your time right now, the Albus Dumbledore that exists in 1998 would remember you from this encounter? I would already know you the moment you started at Hogwarts as a first year. It would taint my perception of you for the rest of your school days, and that's not fair to you. Your life at school might be very, very different because you didn't get to start it with a clean slate like the rest of your classmates. You say you are Head Girl at Hogwarts in 1998. How did you manage to achieve this distinction?"

"Well, lots of studying was part of it, I suppose," Hermione said, bewildered. "I…I always had high marks in my classes. I became a prefect in my fifth year. And I followed the rules, for the most part…I always tried to do what I thought was right…and I believed in house unity…"

"So, in other words, you proved yourself," Dumbledore interrupted. "And that's what I want you to do now, in the next few weeks or even months --- I want you to prove yourself to me. If, during that time, you can show me that you really are a hard working and trustworthy student, and that this incident was merely a lapse in your otherwise good judgement, then I will be glad to send you back to your time. And in…1991, I believe it will be, when you start your studies at Hogwarts, I will remember you not as a girl who cried in my office and told me that she used an illegal Time Turner for her own purposes, but as a girl who will later truly deserve to be appointed prefect and Head Girl. Do you understand, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, sir, I understand," Hermione said slowly. He was right; he couldn't just send her back, because their meeting in 1978 had changed things irrevocably. He really was doing her a favor, whether she liked it or not. What if she did go back to discover that she was no longer Head Girl? That would be far worse than having to stay in 1978 for a few weeks.

"Good," Dumbledore said, beaming at her. "The mature and responsible way you've handled this already speaks well for you. But now, we must figure out your schedule, and order your books and clothing…oh, and there is the matter of your name."

"My name?"

"Of course. We cannot call you Hermione Granger while you are here, because the person known as Hermione Granger hasn't technically been born yet. It could muddle up the future in ways that we can't even know yet, so we must come up with some sort of alias for you. What would you like to be called?"

"Oh, Merlin, I don't know, sir. I-I…never thought I'd have to come up with another name for myself…I can't imagine being called anything other than Hermione."

"Understandably. But you must --- and I suggest that you choose something completely different, not your middle name or a nickname of anything of that sort. Come now, do you have a favorite name or a name that your parents almost bestowed on you?"

"Well, my mum loves Shakespeare, the Muggle playwright you mentioned. That's why she called me Hermione --- Hermione is a character from the play _A Winter's Tale._ Maybe I could…choose another name from Shakespeare?"

"Fantastic idea! But which one?" Dumbledore said urgently. "Quickly, now --- I will need to know what to call you when I introduce you to your classmates and teachers."

"Um…well…" Hermione racked her brain, trying to come up with _something_, anything. "_Twelfth Night_ is one of my favorite plays. Maybe I could call myself Olivia?"

"Very good! I think the name suits you, Miss Granger. But I mustn't call you Miss Granger anymore, either. What shall be your new last name?"

"Oh. Um…how about Taylor? It's my uncle's wife's maiden name."

"Taylor will do just fine, if that's what you want. And now we can finally make the rest of your arrangements for you here." The Headmaster smiled down at her. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Taylor."

* * *

**A/N:** That was my longest chapter for this story yet, and the one that was the hardest to write so far. What do you think of Hermione's new name? Please hit the review button and tell me what you think, as I'm dying to read your comments. :) 


	5. Under Lily's Wing

**A/N: **Just thought I'd explain why I gave Hermione the alias that I did in the last chapter. As I (or rather, Hermione) said, Olivia is a character in the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night." The thing with Olivia is that she's unrequitedly in love with a guy named Cesario, but what she doesn't know is that "Cesario" is actually a girl named Viola in disguise --- and that Viola is in love with a guy named Orsino. I thought that giving Hermione the alias Olivia would be appropriate because of who she's going to fall in love with. Lily seems to be as as unattainable to Hermione as Viola is to Olivia. Like Viola, Lily is meant to be with someone else (in her case, James). I hope that clears things up.

I know the action's been a bit slow in this fic so far, but things will pick up a little bit at the end of this chapter. Plus, it's more fun to draw it out a bit. :)

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"But, Professor, there's something else you must know," Hermione said, as Dumbledore began scribbling a note to Madam Malkin's.

"And what is that?

"Well, the Head Girl, Lily Evans..." she began. "I already knew who she was before you told me, because she's the mother of one of my best friends."

Dumbledore stopped writing and looked up at Hermione with a grave expression on his face.

"Is that so? I wish I had known that earlier. I thought that since you were Muggleborn, you wouldn't have very many connections to current students at this school."

"I didn't when I first started at Hogwarts, but I do now, sir. Both of my friend's parents are at Hogwarts right now --- but I don't think that they know yet that they'll be married. I also know Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and...and James Potter, and Severus Snape." Hermione decided not to mention the fact she had never met Lily and James, because she didn't want to give away the fact that they had died, even to Dumbledore. "And are Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black still at Hogwarts?"

"No, Mister Malfoy and Miss Black graduated several years ago. They were also married to each other straight out of Hogwarts, but I assume that you know that."

Hermione nodded. "Their son goes to school with me, too." _And what a bunch of evil gits they all are,_ she refrained from adding. "And I know what happens to them and lots of other people in the next few years of your time --- who joins the Order of the Phoenix and who joins the Death Eaters --- and who lives and who...who dies."

She felt a lump form in her throat at the thought of the deaths of Lily and James, the imprisonment and later death of Sirius, and of course, the death of Dumbledore himself. She had hardly been able to contain herself the entire time she'd been speaking with the Headmaster. Here he was sitting alive in front of her, when there was still that final image of him that she couldn't get out of her mind: Harry's description of the Headmaster being blasted off the Astronomy Tower by the killing curse...and of course, the image of Dumbledore's coffin, which she'd seen with her own eyes the day she attended his funeral...

Hermione shook her head, trying to banish those images from her mind and concentrate on the matter at hand. "Sir, it could be very dangerous for me to be here. Are you still sure you want to give me that chance to prove myself? There...there are worse things than me not getting to start at Hogwarts with a clean slate, and maybe losing the position of Head Girl."

"This is true," Dumbledore murmured. "Please...give me a moment to think about this."

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, during which Dumbledore set his gaze unmovingly into the green flames of his fireplace; meanwhile, Hermione kept her own eyes on the old man's serious face, waiting anxiously for him to speak. In the background, Fawkes squawked and ruffled his feathers. Finally, Dumbledore opened his mouth.

"It would...be possible..." he said slowly, "to send you back to 1998 immediately, and then ask Professor McGonagall to obliviate my memory so that I will not be able to recall this encounter. It would be as if you never came here. But the fact remains that you _did_ come here, and for that reason alone I feel I shouldn't send you back yet. It was wrong of you to use the Time Turner in the way you did, but perhaps...perhaps you were meant to be here."

"Meant to be here? Why would I be _meant_ to be here?"

"Think about it, Miss Granger. What if things are the way they are in your time _because_ you came to 1978? What if your time traveling to this year, and affecting the lives of the people you meet, is all part of the great, universal plan? I know it sounds somewhat daft. But it seems very strange to me that the Time Turner would send you to _this_ very important period in the lives of your friends' parents, all by accident. It's quite a coincidence, don't you think?"

Hermione felt more overwhelmed than ever now; so much had happened to her in the space of an hour that she was having difficulty processing it. But at the same time, she understood what Dumbledore was saying, because she could remember what had happened at the end of her third year. Harry would never have been able to cast the Patronus charm to ward off the Dementors from Sirius if he hadn't gone back in time and seen himself doing it. Could Dumbledore possibly be right --- could it be that she was simply fulfilling her destiny (and the destinies of all whom she knew) by being here?

"But how will I know what important thing I'm supposed to accomplish, and when to do it?" she asked, the palms of her hands beginning to sweat again. "And what if I'm really not that important --- begging your pardon, but what if it really _is_ just a mistake and a coincidence?"

"Miss Granger, my point is that we have no way of knowing! Originally I was going to keep you here because it was the right and fair thing to do. Now, I feel I must keep you here because my instincts tell me that I must; that there might be some other, unknowable reason why you were thrust into this time period. Forgive me for my lack of modesty, but it is rare when my instincts are wrong. And at this moment, my instincts are telling me that you should not be sent back to 1998 just yet --- just as I felt with so much certainty that I could trust you."

"All right," Hermione said, taking a deep breath; she felt suddenly resolved to accept what was happening to her. "I'll stay, if you really think that's what must be done." She removed the Time Turner from around her neck, and set it down on the desk in front of her Headmaster. "But how should I act when I'm around the people I know from the future? I know I shouldn't tell them about anything that happens after this year, like who they'll marry or what children they'll have..."

"No, no, of course you mustn't. After all, they'll find out for themselves in due time. And I know this might be difficult for you, but unless I ask you for information, you must _not_, under any circumstances, tell me --- or anyone else, for that matter ---- anything that happens that has to do with Lord Voldemort, or the actions of his followers. Even if it means saving a life," he interrupted her when he saw that she was about to speak; she closed her mouth shut again. "Believe me, it will be difficult for myself, as well, to not ask you for this information...but unless I have good reason to believe that knowing about future events will help us instead of hurt us, you must be silent on that end. Do you understand? Do you swear that you will do as I ask?"

"I...I swear," Hermione gulped. She had thought that she'd faced difficulties before, which ranged from something as relatively minor as a tough Potions essay to the dangers she'd faced every year as a result of being Harry Potter's friend. But this was an all new kind of pressure. _This must be kind of what it feels like for Harry_, she thought, _knowing that everything you do might have a huge effect on the wizarding world. _

"Thank you," Dumbledore said smiling, all the sternness gone from his face. It amazed Hermione how quickly her Headmaster could change his mood or his tone of voice; it was quite unnerving sometimes. "And now that that's settled, I will go back to calling you Miss Taylor, and making arrangements for you to study here. Let's see...I think I will tell the students and staff that you were studying at another wizarding institution, until you were forced to come to Hogwarts midway through the year. Miss Taylor, do you speak any French or German?"

"Oh...I took French at my Muggle school before I came to Hogwarts," Hermione replied, not seeing how this was relevant. "I did pretty well in my French classes..."

"Then how would you like to say that you transferred from Beauxbatons?"

Hermione raised one thin, brown eyebrow at the Professor. The old codger had certainly thought this out thoroughly.

"You can tell them that your family experienced the mysterious death of a relative in France, and as a result they pulled you out of Beauxbatons and sent you here, thinking that the attack might have been Death Eater-related and that you would be safer at Hogwarts. We have never had a transfer student here before, but I doubt people will spend much time wondering about you. And now..." Dumbledore reached into a porcelain vase that sat on his desk and pulled out a handful of what Hermione surmised must be Floo Powder. Throwing it into the fire, he called out, "Minerva, could you come to my office please?"

A few seconds later, Professor McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace, trying to look dignified as she dusted ash off of her green robes.

"What is it, Albus?" she asked, looking sharply at him through her square-rimmed glasses. "I was in the middle of planning tomorrow's lessons...I hope this is important."

"Oh, it is, my dear Minerva. The young lady sitting before you is Miss Olivia Taylor. Due to some very sad circumstances, she was forced to leave Beauxbatons, where she had been studying for the last seven years, and take refuge here at Hogwarts. I hope you will inform the rest of the staff of her arrival."

"Oh!" McGonagall cried, suddenly taking notice of Hermione. She looked the young girl up and down with a look of surprise on her normally stern face. Finally she said, "Well, I'm sorry that you have had to join us for less than happy reasons, but welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I see you're wearing Gryffindor clothing...have you already been sorted?"

"Yes, I sorted her here in my office as soon as she arrived," Dumbledore said quickly. Though he was still facing McGonagall, he managed to wink discreetly and mischievously at Hermione with one blue eye.

"Then welcome to my House as well --- I'm head of Gryffindor," McGonagall said warmly, taking one of Hermione's hands in hers and shaking it. "Let me know if there is anything I can get for you, or help you with."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione shook McGonagall's hand back. It was very odd to be greeted by someone she'd known for years as if they were meeting for the very first time. _But we really **are **meeting for the first time,_ she realized. _At least, to her we are. _

"You can help by making sure that there will be an extra bed in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory, and by helping her to organize her schedule of classes," Dumbledore said to McGonagall. Hermione noticed for the first time that, even when he was instructing McGonagall to do something, he didn't sound at all bossy or authorative, but rather as if his Deputy Headmistress was his equal and life-long friend. "Once that is done, I will send an owl to Madam Malkin's and Flourish & Blotts to order Miss Taylor some new robes and books. I also want to ask a favor of our Head Girl...do you think you could fetch her for me just now?"

"Just one moment, Albus." Professor McGonagall darted out of the Headmaster's office. Hermione turned back to Dumbledore, a look of curiosity in her brown eyes; what did he need to bring Lily over to his office for?

"Remember, you must never say anything to Miss Evans about what you know of her future," Dumbledore whispered to her, as if he thought the very walls had ears. Before she could inquire further about what was going on, McGonagall appeared back in the office with Lily by her side.

"Miss Evans!" Dumbledore greeted Lily cheerfully. "Thank you for coming here, once again; I am sorry that today has been such a strange and busy day for you. You remember the young lady who appeared in your dorm earlier this afternoon?"

"Of course," Lily said, fixing her startlingly green eyes on Hermione. There was no judgment in those eyes, however; Lily had an air of acceptance and empathy that reminded Hermione, strangely enough, of Luna Lovegood.

"Well, her name is Olivia Taylor, and she will be a new student at Hogwarts for the remainder of the year," Dumbledore went on. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you much else about her, because it is a private matter having to do with her family. She has undergone quite a lot of stress in the past few days, which is why she was in the state you found her in when you first met her. But suffice to say she is here now and she has been sorted into your own House. It is my hope that you will take her under your wing, as you are Head Girl now and were a prefect for Gryffindor last year. Please do everything you can to make her feel welcome here at Hogwarts, however long her stay may be."

Lily nodded cooperatively at the Headmaster, and then turned around and smiled at Hermione. It was a shy smile, but at least it was a genuine one --- not at all the kind of phony smirks that Hermione was used to getting from the likes of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. "Dinner's in a few hours, in the Great Hall. Do you want to sit with me and my friends? I'll introduce you to everybody."

"Sure, that would be great." Hermione couldn't help but smile back. All things considered, the day wasn't turning out to be quite as bad as it could be.


	6. Labels Are For Potions Jars

**Chapter Five**

The rest of the day went by much less stressfully for Hermione. McGonagall helped her create a schedule based on the classes that Hermione was already taking at Hogwarts (or had taken at Beauxbatons, as she claimed), and Dumbledore sent out an order for her new robes. She suddenly remembered that she didn't have any non-school clothing to wear on the weekends, or nightgowns, or a toothbrush or shampoo or any other toiletries, or even socks and underwear. When she blushingly brought this up to McGonagall, her professor frowned and said,

"Oh dear, that is a concern. Well, I'm sure the other girls in our dorm will let you borrow something to wear to bed…but write a list for me of everything you'll need, and we'll try to get everything for you as soon as possible. And next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend --- that's when the students are allowed to visit the nearby village --- so you can buy some new clothes then. Do you have any money on you? No? I'll ask the Headmaster to lend you some then. I'm very sorry, Miss Taylor, for whatever circumstances landed you here, away from your family and everything that's familiar to you."

"I'm sorry, too," Hermione said softly. She felt a wave of sadness pass over her as she suddenly began to strongly miss Harry and Ron --- and even Ginny, even though the girl had broken her heart. She wondered if all her friends in 1998 would even know that she had disappeared, or if, when she finally came back home, it would be like nothing had ever happened. She couldn't quite grasp the fact that they were separated by a time difference of twenty years and that none of her friends had technically even been born yet. It felt more like 1978 and 1998 were two different countries separated by a vast ocean, and Hermione was stranded thousands of miles away from her friends, with no way of communicating with them or getting back. She hoped that Dumbledore would send her back soon, because she didn't know how long she could bear being away from everything she knew.

_At least you're still at Hogwarts, and your same professors from 1998 are here to take care of you. You could have ended up in fourteenth century China or something_, she thought glumly to herself as she made her way down the stairs for dinner. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning, and was starting to feel sharp hunger pangs in the pit of her stomach.

When she walked through the gigantic doors of the Great Hall, she saw that students were already filling up the benches. Her eyes darted across the huge room, hoping to find Lily at the Gryffindor table. As strange as it felt for her to be talking with Harry's dead mother, it was better than the awkwardness of eating by herself. Thankfully, she soon spotted a flash of red hair and Lily waving at her from the end of one of the long tables.

Hermione shyly walked over towards Lily and her friends. Sitting across from Lily was a girl with medium-length light brown hair, a round face and a friendly looking expression; something about her seemed oddly familiar to Hermione, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Sitting next to the round-faced girl was another student who reminded Hermione more of Tonks than anyone else. Her hair was cropped short and dyed black (Hermione could tell it was dyed because of the brown roots that were slightly visible), which, together with the multi-colored hoop piercings that went all the way up both of her ears, gave her a vaguely punk look.

"Hi," Hermione said, taking a seat next to Lily. She didn't know quite what else to say, and was starting to feel nervous. Where was the comfort of her own friends when she needed it? Fortunately, Lily rescued her from having to think of something else to say by breaking the silence herself.

"Hey! Let me introduce you to my two best friends." She gestured to the round-faced girl, and said, "This is Alice, and"---she pointed to the black-haired girl---"this is Abby. Everyone, this is Olivia."

Hermione's brown eyes grew wide as it dawned on her why the first girl looked so familiar. _Alice…it's Neville's mother, Alice Longbottom. But the last time I saw her, she was in her late thirties, insane and in St. Mungo's…_

"N-nice to meet you," Hermione stammered, trying to keep her cool --- which she was finding it harder and harder do, the more of her friends' parents she met.

"She just transferred here from Beauxbatons," Lily explained to the other girls. "She's in our year, so we're going to have a new roommate."

"Oh, really? So I guess you won't be here very long, since we graduate in just a few months," Alice said.

"Yeah…I don't know how long I'll be here actually. I might leave even before graduation, I just don't know."

"Why is that? And you have an English accent --- why were you going to a French school if you're not French?" Abby blurted out as she took a swig of pumpkin juice. Lily sighed and said,

"Do forgive her, Olivia --- Abby can be too nosy and blunt sometimes."

"Hey, I was just asking a question! You don't mind, do you, Olivia?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, it's all right. Well, um…" She paused as she filled her dinner plate with food and tried to remember the story that she and Dumbledore had agreed to tell. "I know I sound English, but my gran on my dad's side of the family is French. When I was eleven I got letters from both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and my parents decided to send me to Beauxbatons so I could learn some French culture. But just a few days ago, my aunt in France died. They think it might have been a Death Eater-related murder, so…so I was sent here."

Alice's jaw dropped. "That's terrible! I'm so sorry!"

"Blimey, I…I had no idea," Abby said, her pale face flushing. "I feel like such a git for asking."

"It's okay, you didn't know," Hermione said. _It's not like it's even true_, she thought guiltily; she wasn't used to lying, and she didn't like having to do so. "Anyway, um…my parents almost pulled me out of school completely, but…they wanted me to continue my education, and they thought I might be safer at Hogwarts than I would be at home, so here I am."

"Well, there have been a lot of bad things happening here in England, too," Lily said, her face looking grave. "But Hogwarts probably is the safest place they could have sent you. Mostly because Dumbledore is the greatest wizard alive today. I hope you'll like it here."

"I hope so too...it just feels so odd being away from all of my friends," Hermione said wistfully.

Lily gave her a sympathetic look. "If it makes you feel any better, most of the people here are very nice," she said. "Well, except for a couple of unsavory boys I won't mention…"

"Oh, c'mon, Lils, Potter's been a lot nicer this year," Abby grinned. "Maybe you should finally just give him a chance?"

Lily set her mouth in a very stubborn, determined expression. "He may be a _little_ bit nicer, but he's still annoying. Every time he 'accidentally' bumps into me --- which is way too often, if you ask me --- he asks me to go out with him. If he stopped being so bloody persistent, I might actually say yes."

"Who's Potter?" Hermione asked in a purposefully inquisitive tone of voice. Even though she knew perfectly well who Potter was, she knew she had to act as though she didn't if she wanted her story to be believable.

"Potter is James Potter, the boy who's been in love with Lily for ages," Alice said. "He's another Gryffindor in our year. He used to be an arrogant prat, so Lily's always turned him down when he asked her out. He's gotten better this year, though. Even my boyfriend Frank hangs out with him now, and they were never really close friends before."

"Yeah, well, Potter doesn't ask Frank out every single day, so I bet your boyfriend finds him a lot more tolerable than I do," Lily said wearily. "I'm scared to death of what he'll do on Tuesday. He'll probably think that just because it's Valentine's Day I'll forget that I couldn't stand him for seven years, and that I'll actually agree to be his girlfriend. I'd rather be _Abby's_ Valentine than his."

"And you know I'd rather you were mine too, love," Abby said, winking cheekily at Lily, which made both of them and Alice laugh. Hermione stared at them in curiosity. Was Abby into girls? Something about the short-haired girl had set Hermione's "gaydar" off when she'd first set eyes on her, and the banter between her and Lily seemed to confirm it. It made sense that Lily would make friends with the gay and lesbian kids at school; Professor Lupin and Sirius had always said that she was so accepting of everyone, even the Slytherins.

Abby must have noticed the look on Hermione's face, because she turned to her and said,

"Ah. There's something you should know about me, Olivia, because if you don't like it I don't know how we're going to be able to share a room together. You see, I'm gay. Lily and Alice and Frank are fine with it, so if you're not, there's going to be a problem."

Hermione had to struggle to suppress her laughter at the irony of it all as she replied, "Oh, it's definitely _not_ a problem, don't worry. Actually…" She lowered her voice as she continued, "my girlfriend and I just broke up."

"No way!" Abby cried, her mouth opening in an expression of half-laughter, half-shock. "You're gay too?"

"Sssh, Abby!" Lily whispered, giving her friend a reproachful look. "Maybe she doesn't want the entire school to know about it on her first day?"

"Oh, sorry," Abby said quickly, in a quieter voice. "I'm really sorry 'bout that, I wasn't trying to out you or anything. I just don't know any other girls at this school who are openly gay."

"Well, I don't know if I even consider myself gay," Hermione shrugged. "I used to like boys, and I even thought I liked my friend Ron, but then I realized I actually had a crush on his sister --- that's my ex-girlfriend. I don't really call myself anything. I think that labels are for potions jars, not people." She felt herself blush when the other three girls began laughing.

"I never heard it said like that," Abby said, looking amused. "I guess I must be a potions jar then, because I'm one hundred percent lesbian, no doubt about it."

"Well, I think it's a perfectly legitimate way of explaining it," Lily said, taking on an intellectual tone of voice. "I've done some reading on human sexuality, and Olivia's right --- most doctors and psychologists agree that sexuality is fluid, and a lot of people these days choose not to label themselves." She grinned at Hermione as she added, "I think that's really quite cool, actually."

Hermione grinned back at Lily. She already sensed that she'd made an intellectual connection with the other girl, which made her feel very relieved. How many other people did she know who read human sexuality books just for fun?

A short while later, the four of them were making their way back upstairs to the Gryffindor common room. When Alice's boyfriend Frank joined up with them to wrap his arm around Alice's shoulders, Hermione found herself being introduced to who she knew would become Neville's father as well. They were comparing their schedules with Hermione's to see if they had any classes with her when Alice suddenly whispered to Lily, "Don't look now, but Potter and his cronies are heading this way."

"Oh, Merlin," Lily breathed, rolling her eyes. "I do _not_ want to deal with him or Sirius Black right now."

"Too late," Abby said, just as a male voice called out,

"Oi, Evans!"

Hermione spun around, and what she saw next made her skin crawl. It was as if Harry were walking towards her --- but a taller, less scrawny Harry with hazel eyes and a forehead free of scars. This unruly-haired boy could only be James Potter, Harry's father. And trailing behind him were three people that she immediately recognized (though they were so much more youthful looking than she was used to seeing them) as Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

"Ignore them and keep walking," Lily said between clenched teeth. But like Abby had said, it was far too late for that. James shouted,

"Hey, Evans! C'mon, please don't walk away from us!"

"Yeah, we were just wondering who your new friend was," Sirius added.

"Why do you have to ask _me_ that?" Lily said sharply, putting her hand on her hip and flipping her red hair over her shoulder in a fashion that reminded Hermione eerily of Ginny. "I'm sure she's perfectly capable of telling you who she is."

James looked taken aback, but then he grinned widely and extended his hand towards Hermione.

"Touché, Evans. Very well then --- I'm James Potter. And who might you be? Why in the world have I never seen you before?"

"Because I just got here today," Hermione said, feeling a shiver run down her spine as she shook Harry's father's hand. "I'm Olivia, and I used to go to Beauxbatons. It's a long story --- I'm sorry but I don't feel like explaining it right now."

"Fair enough. I just wanted to say hello, seeing as we're both in Gryffindor, and it's my duty as Head Boy to greet new students. Let me introduce my best mates, Sirius, Peter and Remus."

The rest of the Marauders waved at Hermione, and Sirius even flashed her a cocky smirk and winked at her. Hermione remembered that Sirius had been very popular with the girls while he was at Hogwarts, and she thought to herself in an amused way, _Oh, Sirius, don't even bother trying to charm **me**_. _It won't work, and you'll feel guilty about it later if you ever realize I'm your godson's friend._

She suddenly remembered that she should avoid spending a lot of time with people who might later recognize her as Hermione Granger in the 1990's. So she quickly said to the boys in a polite but brisk tone,

"I think we're going back to our dorm room now…or at least that's where _I'm_ headed. I've had a long day and I'm exhausted. It was nice to meet all of you, though."

"I'm really tired too," Lily said, grabbing the arms of both Hermione and Abby. Turning to Alice and Frank, she asked, "I guess you two will want to spend some time together before you go to bed?" The couple blushed and nodded.

"Alright, see you later then, Alice." Just as Hermione felt herself being pulled away by Lily, James called out again in a hopeful voice,

"I'll see you in class tomorrow, Evans!"

"Yeah…I can't wait," Lily sighed, sounding as though she did not look forward to seeing him in class the next day at all.

Soon they were inside the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dorm, where Hermione was grateful to see that a bed for her had already been squeezed into the corner, and on top of it lay a brown paper bag that contained soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste; Professor McGonagall must have retrieved these items for her earlier that evening. Her school books were also on her nightstand, and her new robes were hanging in her closet. Hermione was getting ready to brush her teeth when Lily flopped casually onto her own bed and said,

"I'm sorry I dragged you away like that, Olivia. I don't know if you wanted to stay and chat with James's friends, but to be honest I wasn't sure I trusted their intentions. Plus, I can only take so much of them sometimes. Except for Remus Lupin --- he's really nice."

"No, it's all right, I really was tired," Hermione assured her. "And James does seem really, really persistent in trying to get your attention."

"I know, it's kind of pathetic, isn't it?" Lily said, frowning.

"He's not nearly as pathetic as he used to be," said Abby as she opened her drawer and pulled out her pyjamas. Hermione remembered at that moment that she didn't have any nightclothes of her own.

"Um, Lily and Abby…" she began shyly, "I…don't ask me why, but I don't have a nightgown or anything with me yet. Is there any way I could…borrow one of yours?"

"Of course!" Lily cried. "Don't be embarrassed about that, we borrow each others' clothes all the time. Let me see…I have something that might fit you, even if it's a little big…"

She pulled out a pyjamas set that consisted of a long-sleeved white cotton shirt and trousers; both items had thin pink, purple and blue stripes running vertically down them. It was a bit girlier than Hermione was accustomed to wearing, but she was hardly going to turn it down.

Soon after changing into Lily's pyjamas (which were only slightly too long for her), she crashed in her bed, utterly exhausted from all the excitement of that day. The last thing that entered her mind before she began dreaming was how odd it was to wear someone else's clothes…and to smell their scent upon them, a scent that wafted towards her nostrils as she fell asleep like a strange perfume.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to update. I hope I didn't have Hermione come out to everyone too quickly, or make friends with everyone too quickly, for that matter. Please let me know what you think. :) 


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